Musharraf’s mixed messages on Osama killing

The former military ruler of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, had some mixed messages about the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces.

While describing the death of Osama as “a very positive step” since he had declared war on Pakistan, Musharraf nonetheless claimed that the raid to kill the former Al Qaeda leader represented a “violation” of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

It's a very positive step and it will have positive long-term implications, Musharraf told Reuters in Dubai, where he keeps a home.

Today we won a battle, but the war against terror will continue.

However, Musharraf told an Indian news channel CNN-IBN: “America coming to our territory and taking action is a violation of our sovereignty. Handling and execution of the operation [by US special forces] is not correct. The Pakistani government should have been kept in the loop. Foreign troops crossing the border into Pakistan will not be liked by the people of Pakistan. US forces should not have crossed over into Pakistan.”

Speaking to Express News, the Pakistani TV news channel, the former ruler said that Pakistan’s Special Operations Task Force should have carried out the operation instead of American soldiers.

Musharraf, who was the president of Pakistan during the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes in the U.S., also said that the presence of al Qaeda forces in his country reflected a security lapse by both US and Pakistani intelligence agencies.

He also told CNN-IBN that he was “surprised” that Osama was found in Pakistan, near the capital Islamabad.

It does surprise me. I don't know the details, he said. If there is lack of trust [between the Americans and the Pakistanis], it is very bad. We are fighting the same enemy.

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